How obvious is it when a car has crystal clear windows? It looks amazing when passing by a car with windows that clean or when you’re driving your own car with perfect windows. Clean car windows are definitely a big part of how you perceive a car being clean or not. A clean car with dirty windows does not look great; a dirty car with clean windows looks better. So, how do we clean windows without leaving any residue or streaks?
All Products Used in This Post:
This post contains links to products that I may receive compensation from at no additional cost to you. View my Affiliate Disclosure page here.
- Invisible Glass Premium Glass Cleaner
- The Rag Company – Dry Me A River Waffle-Weave Microfiber
- Invisible Glass Reach and Clean Tool
- P&S Detail Products Beadmaker
- The Rag Company – Spectrum 420
- Chemical Resistant Sprayer and 16oz bottle or Chemical Resistant Sprayer and 32oz bottle
What is the best thing to clean car windows with?
Clean windows are very important so I like to have a dedicated window cleaner and towel to make sure the outcome is as close to perfect as we can get. I don’t want to spend 20 minutes of my time cleaning windows only to have the windows streaky and messy still. That’s a waste of my time.
Window Cleaner
I like to use Invisible Glass Premium Glass Cleaner in a better spray bottle and a waffle weave towel to work through this process.
I’ve used Invisible Glass for a long time on a bunch of cars, around my house (windows, mirrors, quartz counters, etc.), and it’s always been awesome. No matter how dirty my windows are they end up clean after this process with Invisible Glass.
Is it OK to use Windex on car windows?
This is a common question and the answer has changed over time. The original Windex formula was not safe for car windows with tint and was difficult to get streak-free windows. Today, Windex has an Ammonia-Free option which is supposed to be tint safe, but I have no experience with it. Invisible Glass does such a great job I haven’t needed to buy anything else.
Spray Bottles
I do have to mention I’m not a fan of any of the spray bottles any of the cleaners I use come in. The bottles are all different shapes, sizes and colors and the spray heads are absolute garbage. For me, it ruins the experience of cleaning your windows when the spray head starts spraying a weird pattern and leaking a little on your hands. It feels like the bottle is peeing on you…that’s not fun.
I’ll have to write another post going into why spray bottles are important, what I like to use and why, but to stay on topic I like to use the chemical resistant spray heads from US Plastics and a 16oz Bottle if you don’t wash your windows a lot or have a lot of cars you wash or a 32oz Bottle if you either hate refilling bottles or use the clean quite a bit.
Microfiber Towels
For the towels I really enjoy using the 16”x24” The Rag Company – Dry Me A River Waffle-Weave Microfiber. It’s a big towel you can fold over and still have enough room for your hand to fit on it. I like to drench my windows with cleaner as well so the waffle-weave pattern lets me clean a lot of windows without having a sopping wet towel.
Make Cleaning Easy
One tip I have to share is always keep the towel next to the bottle. I frequently go back and hit my windows throughout the week and having a fresh towel next to the spray bottle makes this quick job quicker. Make it as simple as possible. Reducing friction will enable you to clean your windows more frequently.
Now we’ve got the cleaner, a better bottle, and the towel.
The Warmup
As I’m walking after picking up the glass cleaner and towel I like to spray the Invisible Glass once or twice to make sure there’s no air in the sprayer. Also, let’s fold our towel into fourths (two hamburger folds for you cool kids) to make sure we’re able to control our towel while cleaning as well as give us, in this instance, four “sides” to work with. You should maintain a “wet” side and a “dry” side.
For the environment, it’s best to work in the shade on cool glass. The hotter the window and more direct sunlight it’s getting the quick the cleaner dries after you spray it. This does not give you enough time to work through the process before the window dries up. If you have to clean windows in the sun try spraying a little extra cleaner and work quickly.
Don’t forget!
Have your windows ever been ridiculously clean and then you roll them down and notice the edge of the window is dirty? Don’t forget to focus on the details!
Roll your windows down a little so you can see the entire edge of the glass. Give your microfiber towel a couple sprays of Invisible Glass in a small area. Using your thumb and index fingers, pinch the wet section of the microfiber towel around the dirty edge of your window. Scrub back-and-forth until the edge looks like the rest of the window.
What is the best way to clean car windows without leaving streaks?
1. Soak
The first step helps establish the entire process which prevents streaks and saves time. This makes sure your windows are as clean and clear as possible after the first try.
Soak the window with a little more Invisible Glass than you think you need. It should not be dripping, but there should be generous coverage across the glass. This is where having a nice spray head gives you an advantage. The quality spray head will be able to atomize the Invisible Glass so you have an nice even coverage of small dots as opposed to big blotches which end up running off the glass.
The dirtier the glass the more spray you’ll need. If it’s really dirty think about letting it sit on the glass for sometime before moving on.
A big tip that I think helps a lot is to think about painting on the spray. As you’re squeezing the trigger move the spray across the glass. Do not spray all in one spot. This helps spread the cleaner out across the whole glass and minimizes dripping.
2. Clean
To make sure you hit every inch of the glass make sure to clean every window with the same pattern. Overtime you’ll be getting streak free windows on accident!
With your waffle-weave towel in hand:
- Place it on the wet section of the window
- Slide the towel to the top of the window
- Jamb your finger through to towel and into the edge of the window and trim then wipe around the entire edge
- Once the edge is clean wipe up-and-down
- Wipe the glass again going left-and-right
At this point the glass should still be a little bit wet. If it’s not you didn’t put enough cleaner on in the last step. If that’s the case give the window a very light, quick spray.
Glass is hard so you do not need to worry about scratching it. Don’t be afraid to put some of your weight behind this step if your windows are really dirty.
3. Finish
That extra bit of cleaner on the glass is what’s going to allow us to have a finishing wipe that removes all leftover dust, lint, or streaks.
Flip your towel over so the dry side your hand was previously on is now on the glass and wipe until the way the glass looks gets you excited. Put a little strength into this step to really make sure that windows looks incredible.
The same wiping pattern should be used:
- Place it on the wet section of the window
- Slide the towel to the top of the window
- Jamb your finger through to towel and into the edge of the window and trim then wipe around the entire edge
- Once the edge is clean wipe up-and-down
- Wipe the glass again going left-and-right
As you’re working through the rest of your glass remember to use the “wet” side of the towel for the cleaning step and the “dry” side of your towel for the finishing step. When your “wet” side gets too wet refold the towel to give you two fresh sides. Typically, this is unfolding the towel once and then refolding the opposite way.
What is the best way to clean a car windshield?
The windshield cleaning process is the same as other windows, but there are some tips and tools that make the job a bit easier.
Start by cleaning half the windshield at a time. Only spray Invisible Glass on half the windshield and work your way through the same process then do the other half. I like to do more than half to make sure I have overlap and don’t end up with the middle of the windshield being dirty due to missed spots.
Cleaning the inside of a windshield can be a physically exhausting task depending on the vehicle. The two things that help me get the best results the quickest when cleaning the inside of a windshield are:
- Instead of holding the microfiber towel in the palm of your hand, press the microfiber towel into the glass with the top of your hand and clean the window using the new pattern you learned
- For the finishing dry wipe step use the Invisible Glass Reach and Clean Tool. This is a useful car window cleaning tool that helps get that last bit of shine out of the inside of the windshield
- Do not use this if the glass is still really wet. This is best used to get rid of those last few streaks or spots the initial cleaning stage couldn’t get.
Bonus Tip for Clean Windows
The Last Step Product
Once the windows are clean I like to go over them quickly with a last step product. This helps add a bit of shine to the glass as well as add some protection to help them look cleaner longer. Depending on how often you clean your windows (do it regularly!) this will make the next cleaning session easier and quicker.
Currently I’m using P&S Detail Products Beadmaker (in a 16oz bottle) as a last step product. This is something you can use on glass and the paint and it looks, smells, and feels amazing.
Use a different, high pile, thick towel like The Rag Company – Spectrum 420. Fold it in fourths and follow a similar process to cleaning the glass.
Spray one or two quick sprays of your last step product in the middle of the glass. Go light here and make sure you don’t overspray onto an adjacent panel. If this gets on another surface and you do not wipe it off you will get some funky looking spots.
Next, wipe the product into the glass. I like to wipe up-and-down then left-and-right to make sure I’ve hit every angle.
Flip the towel over and give the glass a quick finish wipe to level out the product.
Don’t Forget to Enjoy Your Work
I believe it’s important to enjoy the work you’ve done. After putting your cleaner and towels away please take a moment to appreciate how clean your windows are.
Once you’ve enjoyed your work take another moment and think about how you feel about your windows being that clean. You put some physical effort into a process and got a shiny outcome. Did this give you a small boost for the day?
Think about it the next time you’re driving your car and you’re looking through your crisp windows.
Clean windows give you an unfair advantage.
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